A writer’s writer

I saw this video recently. It is the acceptance speech of science fiction and fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin. She just received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

A friend of mine recommended her work to me sometime ago, but it took a while to get around to it. Recently I read, or rather heard, the books of the Earthsea Saga.

In a time of when fast action, tight plots, explosions and so on are the norm, I found her work refreshingly contemplative, mystic and subtle. As an author, I also found it liberating to read a story much so rich and poetic, which didn’t shy away from delving into an exploration of the main character’s deeper self.

In this talk, she speaks about how an author need not aim to please the financial big-guns, just to become rich and famous. An author is a servant and an artist, with a duty to connect with their audience and share something valuable.

I was looking today at a website where you can crowd source your book publication. This is also very interesting. So I admit, although I don’t think of myself in that way, that I have desired to be picked up by a big company. And I may yet, but the point is to be a writer, not to be a famous rich writer.

So I am looking to connect with more people who like the kind of work I make, spiritual fantasy.